Roll-positioning device for mills and calenders



March 12, 1957 w. c. WHITTUM 2,735,021

ROLL-POSITIONING DEVICE FQR MILLS AND CALENDERS Filed July 6, 1954 s Sheets-Sheet 1 XYEX 1Z6 1 TOR Z4 M Q\ WW ATTORNERS March 12, 1957 w, c, w T M 2,785,021

ROLL-POSITIONING DEVICE FOR MILLS AND CALENDERS Filed July 6, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR M Q M ATTORNEYS March 12, 1957 w, c WHWTUM 2,785,021

ROLL-POSITIONING DEVICE FOR MILLS AND CALENDERS Filed July 6, 1954 s Shets-Sheet 3 IN VENTOR ATTORNEYS r 2,785,02i Fatented Mar. 12, 1957 ROLL-POSITIONING DEVICE FOR MILLS AND CALENDERS Warren C. Whittum, Ansonia, onn., assignor to Farrel- Birmingham Company, Incorporated, Ansonia, (loan, a corporation of Connecticut Application July 6, 1954, Serial No. 441,459

3 Claims. (Cl. 3308-58) This invention relates to a roll-positioning device for the rolls of rubber mills, plastics mills or calenders or like devices, and more particularly to a device for maintaining rolls of such mills or calenders separated so far as is permitted by the hearings in which the rolls are mounted.

In mills and calenders of this character cooperating rolls are provided between which the material is passed. The rolls, or at least one of a pair of cooperating rolls, may be held in position by an adjusting screw so that the space between the rolls may be adjusted to a desired amount. The rolls are commonly mounted in bearings provided in journal boxes, and it is the usual practice to have the adjusting screw acting upon the journal box to adjust the position of the associated roll.

There is in practice a certain amount of clearance between the roll necks and the bearings surrounding the roll necks which bearings are carried by the journal boxes above described, and there is also a certain amount of clearance between the adjusting screws and associated parts so that the rolls themselves will be permitted a certain amount of movement toward and from each other even without any change in the adjusting screws. When the rolls are in operation and a normal quantity of material is passing therethrough, they will be held by the run of material so far apart as is permitted as usually the material passes through the rolls under considerable pressure. However, when the material runs out or is substantially reduced in quantity, the rolls may then approach each other as permitted by the clearances above described which may permit one roll to rub against another if there is no material between them or which may serve to change the gauge of the issuing sheet of material if the quantity of material is so reduced as to not exert suificient pressure upon the rolls to maintain them apart.

It is, of course, undesirable that the gauge of material be changed, and it is also undesirable to have the rolls rub against each other. The latter is particularly serious when the rolls have diiferent surface speeds, and it is more or less common in many mills or calenders to drive the rolls at difierent surface speeds.

It is contemplated by the present invention to provide means to maintain the rolls in positions separated as far as permitted by the bearings and the adjusting screws.

As illustrated, means are provided to exert pressure on the rolls so as to maintain them against their bearing surfaces and take up any play or clearance which may exist in the bearings or between the journal boxes and the adjusting screws. This means will exert pressure on the rolls to maintain them in positions separated as far as permitted so that even when the material runs out, the adjacent surfaces of two cooperating rolls will not come in contact but will always be spaced apart the distance for which the adjusting screws are set.

In many instances indicating devices may be provided to indicate the distance or opening between the rolls. With the device of the present application the rolls are not permitted to move within their bearings and will, therefore, stand in normal operating position so that the indicating device will show substantially the opening between them, and this opening can always be determined by observation when the rolls are maintained in positions separated from each other as much as is permitted by the adjusting screws.

One object of the invention is to provide a rubber mill, plastics mill, calender or the like with means to maintain the cooperating rolls of the mill in positions separated from each other regardless of the quantity of material passed between the rolls.

Another object of the invention is to provide means acting upon the cooperating rolls of a mill or calender to urge said rolls apart so as to take up any play or clearance in the bearings or other parts of the roll-supporting mechanism.

A still further object of the invention is to provide resilient means acting upon the roll necks of two cooperating rolls of a mill or calender normally acting to force these rolls apart so as to maintain them at all times in such position that the opening between them will be that for which the usual roll-adjusting screws are set.

A further object of the invention is to provide resilient means acting upon the roll necks of cooperating rolls of a mill or calender to maintain the rolls in rearward or separated positions by taking up any clearance between the bearings and the roll necks and also insuring that the journal boxes rest against the adjusting screws or other backing-up means normally preventing separation of the rolls.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end elevational view of a rubber or plastics mill embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the roll hearings on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the loading springs taken on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the spring retainers; and

Fig. 6 is a-cletail elevational view on one of the adjusting screws.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown a plastics or rubber mill comprising side frames 10 and 11, these side frames serving to movably support journal boxes 12 and 13 which are held in place by a retaining cap 14.

A pair of cooperating rolls 15 and 16 are rotatably supported in the side frames. As is usual these rolls are provided with reduced end portions or necks l7 and 13 and, as shown in Fig. 3, the necks are received in bearing openings 19 and 26 in the journal boxes 12 and 13.

Surrounding the roll necks in the openings 19 and 2% are cylindrical bearing members or liners '21 and 22, these members being made of suitable low friction material as is usual. The roll necks are rotatably mounted within the bearing members 2i and 22 and, while there is a snug fit etween the roll necks and the bearing members, there is always a certain amount of clearance or play. In some instances and particularly Where very thin sheets of material are desired, this ,play is of sufiicient magnitude .to significantly aifect the thickness of the sheet.

As stated, the journal boxes 12 and 13, orat least those of one roll, are movablysupported by the side frames. As shown in Fig. 3, the journal box 12 may rest solidly against the portion 23 of the frame, while the position of the journal box 13 may be adjusted in order to adjust the opening between the rolls or to regulate the thickness of the sheet of material delivered by the rolls.

To this end an adjusting screw 24 bears at its inner end at 25 against the journal box 13. This adjusting screw is threadedly mounted in a nut 26 secured in the side frame member 27, and the head 28 of this screw may be provided with an opening 29 by which the screw may be turned. It will be apparent that when the screw is rotated in the proper direction, it will cause the journal box 13 to be moved toward the journal box 12 and, therefore, lessen the width of the opening between the rolls while, if the screw is turned in the other direction, an opening of gre-ater'width will be permitted between the rolls. The pressure of the material passing between the rolls normally maintains the journal box 13 against the end 25 of the adjusting screw.

However, as previously stated, it is desirable for several' reasons to provide means urging the rolls apart so that any clearance or play in the roll bearings or between the adjusting screw and the journal 13 will be taken up at all times and the rolls be maintained in the position wherein the opening between them is that determined by the adjusting screw 24. To this end I have provided spring means to urge the rolls apart, this spring means being shown in Fig. 3 as applied to one end of each of the rolls, but it will be understood that this arrangement will be duplicated at the other side of the machine so that the rolls will be forced apart at each end. As illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, the journal boxes 12 and 13 are provided with openings 30 and the bearing members 19 and zti are provided with corresponding openings 31. Slidably seated in each of these openings is a spring retainer 32 of cup-shaped form, the outer face of each of these retainer members being provided with a concave recess 34 (Fig. 5). The recesses 34 are of partially cylindrical shape so as to receive therewithin a portion of the roll neck so that the outer face of each cup bears directly against the associated roll.

The walls of the cups are provided with peripheral recesses 35 within which are mounted packing or O-rings 36 to prevent leaking of lubricant from the bearing.

Acting between the retaining cup of one roll'and that of the other roll is a compression spring 37 tending, as shown in Fig. 3, to urge the spring retainers 32 against the roll necks 17 and 18 and urge the rolls in a direction to separate them as far as permitted by the retaining screws and the roll bearings.

It will be noted that the cup-shaped retainers or 01 lowers 32 bear directly against a part of the rolls such as the roll necks and thereby urge'the roll into the position in which it would occupy in normal operation of the mill and will thus eliminate or take up the normal hearing clearance and urge the associated journals snugly against the ends of the adjusting screws.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 6, it is often desirable toprovide an indicating device to indicate the width of the opening between the rolls at a particular setting of the adjusting screw. Such a device is shown in Fig. 6 where a pointer 49 is provided on the adjusting screw and a couperating scale 41 on an adjacent part of the frame. With the provision of means to maintain the rolls separated to the farthest extent permitted by the adjusting screw. this indicating-means will always truly indicate the width of the opening between the rolls.

It will be obvious that if desired the spring 37 may be replaced with some other means to force the rolls apart such, for example, as applying hydraulic or pneumatic pressure to the members 32. It will also be obvious that, if desired, the pressure may. be applied to one only of the rolls, such as the roll 15, which is regulated by theadjusting screw 24- so that the roll journal 13 will be maintained against the end of the adjusting screw in addition to the maintenance of the roll neck 17 against the'rear wall 0t 4 the bearing member 22. One important feature of the device is that the members 32 which exert the separating pressure upon the roll, act upon the roll itself so as to take up or eliminate any clearance in the bearings.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my inventiornit will be understood that it is n t to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I. claimed is: j

l. A roll-positioning mechanism for a mill or calender comprising a pair of side frames, a pair of cooperating rolls, journal members mounted in the frame at each end of each of said rolls in which'the roll ends arerotatably mounted, cylindrical bearing members carried by said journal members and embracing the roll ends, the adjacent faces of the journal members in each frame having openings therein, registering openings in said hearing members, a retainer member movably mounted'in said registering openings of the bearing members and journal members of each roll to bear directly against the roll ends at the inner ends of said retainer members and projecting into the openings in the journal members at their outer ends, the retainer members at the adjacent ends of the rolls facing each other, and means acting on said retainer members to force them apart and force their inner ends against the roll ends.

2. A roll-positioning mechanism for a mill or calender comprising a pair of side frames, a pair of cooperating rolls, journal members mounted in the frame at each end of each of said rolls in which the roll ends are rotatably mounted, cylindrical bearing members carried by said journal members and embracing the roll ends, the mincent'faces of the journal members in each frame having openings therein, registering openings in said bearing members, a retainer member movably mounted in said registering openings of the bearing members and journal members of each roll to bear directly against the roll ends at the inner ends of said retainer members and projecting into the openings in the journal members at their outer ends, the retainer members at the adjacent ends of the rolls facing each other, and spring means extending between the journal members and acting between said rerolls, jotu'nal members mounted in the frame at each end of each of said rolls in which the roll ends are rotatably mounted, cylindrical bearing members carried by said journal members and embracing the rollends, the adjacent faces of the journal members in each frame having openings therein, registering openings in said bear-- ing members, a retainer member movably mounted in said registering openings of the bearingmembers and journal members of each roll to bear directly against the roll ends at the inner ends of said retainer members and projecting into the openings in the journal members at their outer ends, the retainer members at the adjacent ends of the rolls facing each other, means'acting on said retainer members to force them apart and force their inner ends against the roll ends, and adjusting screws, one in each of said frames, acting on the journal members of one of said. rolls ancl'said retainer members urging the journal members of said one roll against said screws.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 679,413 Bunker July 30, 1901 770,950 Bailey Sept. 27, 1904 FOREIGN PATENTS 1 592,812 Great Britain se t. 30, 1947 

